Super Volunteers Inspire Others at Super Bowl

Written by: Evan Thomas, MCCOY Vice Chairman of the Board

It's easy to find information at the Super Bowl Village, because of Super Volunteers!Picture courtesy of www.indianapolissuperbowl.com

One of the most surprising and heartening things I’ve learned from MCCOY is how much community involvement we have in Indianapolis. I think we all know we have more than our fair share of issues, but good people wanting to help doesn’t seem to be among them.

That said, I really shouldn’t have been surprised by all the media accounts of how much the people of Indianapolis played into the success of the events leading up to the Super Bowl. The people made the difference. I believe that, but I also that it takes more than good people and their good intentions to bring off an event as big as the Super Bowl. It takes public – private partnerships, it takes corporate involvement and it takes planning. 

The city’s successful landing of the Super Bowl and its execution are a testament to Indianapolis can do. Indianapolis can be a world class city. We have hard evidence that we can form public – private partnerships that work, that the city’s corporate citizens will step up when called upon, and that we have the foresight to lay the groundwork today to achieve something audacious years from now. It’s not a theoretical anymore; Indianapolis does amazing things. Who would have believed a year ago or even a month ago that national media would be saying Indianapolis should be in the regular rotation to host a Super Bowl?

The real trick now is getting the good people, the companies, and the local government all pulling in the same direction without the pinnacle of American pop-culture awesomeness as the rallying point. It’s clear Indianapolis needs something to rally behind. We need something to pull us together. We need some audacious goal to set for ourselves and our city. 

What is it?

And zip lines, we definitely need zip lines…

February 2012: Champion for Youth

Congratulations to Rev. Malachi Walker for being chosen as the Champion for Youth for this month! Rev. Walker is the Executive Director of Young Men, Inc. Youth Ministry. Read below to find out what makes this man such a inspiration and a true Champion of Youth.

What is your profession or vocation?   I am a retired Indianapolis Firefighter.  I served on the department for 28.5 years, as well as an ordained minister within the Church of God Anderson where I am Associate Pastor of Great Commission Church of God.  I am also the Executive Director and founder of Young Men, Inc. Youth Ministry – a male empowerment ministry for at-risk males, ages 8 – 16.

How are you an Everyday Champion for Youth?   I believe that I am an everyday champion for youth because it has been one of the things that I live for throughout my life. I started organizing teen clubs and field trips to King’s Island for youth at age 16. Being from the Twin Hills Housing Community, we had to quickly learn how to ban together as youth and find positive things to do.  I guess that’s where my leadership and work with youth was cultivated.   I work with them every day in one capacity or another - whether it be by mentoring youth, going to a school to see about one of them who is in trouble, having a kind word to say to one who has lost their way or lost hope, or packing them into a 15-passenger van to see a Pacers game, experience the recent 2012 Super bowl Experience, or taking them to see firsthand the impact homicide has on the lives of black males. I truly feel that it is a calling from God to work with them and I am humbled that He has chosen me to be the vehicle of change and hope for Black males.

What impact do you hope to make on youth?   I hope to empower them to make good decisions and choices in life; instill in them the importance of education and what it means to be a leader in all areas of life mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. I also hope to teach them how to give back to their community in the form of volunteering and community service so that they leave a lasting impact in the City of Indianapolis or whatever communities they eventually live in.  I feel this will help them to realize how fortunate they have been to have people who care about them and that they in turn will also be encouraged to give back and help others as they grow from boys to men.

What’s one thing that you wish an adult had told you when you were a young person?   I wish that an adult had really instilled in me and helped me to believe that “you can do anything that you want to do, as long as you work hard at it and put your mind to it.”   I also wish that they had told me that "life was a gift and the only things that matters as how you use that gift because we are not here on earth just to take up space; your life has meaning and purpose. It’s up to you to find it and use it to help not just yourself but others."

What do you want to do next to support youth?   I really want to try to find collaborative ways to work with other organizations and show them how to find jobs,   save money, and impact their communities.  I also hope to be able to build a full-fledged mentoring program for Young Men, Inc.

Do you work directly with youth?  Yes, I work directly with youth and have been doing so since I was a youth myself.  I now work directly with youth – mostly African American males – through Young Men, Inc.  Every summer I work with 80 - 100 African American males through the Young Men, Inc. 10-week summer empowerment camp. We meet on Tuesdays, Thursdays, as well as some weekends and other days to keep them off the street, show them how to make good decisions and choices, and how to respect themselves and others.  We have a military style of discipline and a points system for rewards that allows participants to earn a trip to Kings Island, college tour, and have an awards and recogntion banquet at the end of the 10-week program. We then try to match participants with mentors that follow them throughout the rest of the year.  However, due to a limited staff and funding, we are currently unable to match all participants.

What percentage of your time is spent working directly with youth or families?  At least 50%

Week of Feb. 6: Legislative Update

Wow is all I have to say at the midpoint of the 2012 legislative session.  Last week marked the deadline for bills to crossover to the other chamber and business was concluded on Wednesday for a much-needed break for the Super Bowl.  The Right to Work bill took center stage and a great deal of time was devoted to debating, or avoiding debate, on the issue.  For better or for worse, the bill passed and hopefully this means that we can re-focus on the more important issues that got lost in the shuffle.  One key victory that did happen was the human trafficking bill that passed with lightning speed and went into effect before the Super Bowl.  Hopefully the attention brought to the issue as well as the stiffer penalties curbed a lot of the trafficking that happens in Super Bowl host cities. 

MCCOY has been monitoring a wide variety of bills and, for the most part, is supportive of the majority of them.  A couple of the bills that MCCOY is actively supporting are one that requires the establishment of a child care ministries advisory committee; a bill creating a “Family Friendly” designation for schools; a bill to educate schools about child sexual abuse and create guidelines and materials for prevention in schools; and the creation of an advisory committee on early education within the state Education Roundtable.

There are a couple of bills that MCCOY has some concerns about and will continue to monitor as they move forward.  One bill deals with giving schools more freedom to suspend and/or expel students for behaviors that occur off-campus and off school hours.  In current law, schools can make that determination based on “unlawful” activities by a student.  This bill strikes the word “unlawful” and opens the law up for a school’s discretion.  The intended purpose of the bill, according to its author, is to allow schools to address cyberbullying and cheating.  However, this is not specified in the bill.  Given our state’s already high suspension and expulsion rates, we should exercise caution in this area.

Another bill of concern deals with drug testing of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) recipients.  The law would revoke TANF benefits from an individual who tests positive for drugs and would withhold that benefit until the recipient is able to test negative.  There are various other penalties and details in the bill, but the unintended consequence of this bill is that children would be harmed as they would lose their benefits.  Michigan attempted to implement a similar law, but is was struck down in federal court as violating the Fourth Amendment.  MCCOY is working with partner coalitions and organizations to speak out on this highly controversial bill.

For more information on the bills moving forward that pertain to MCCOY’s public policy priorities, please visit our blog, which is updated every Friday or sign up to receive legislative update e-mails here.

Join MCCOY for a glass of wine in Fountain Square and learn how you can prevent child sexual abuse

47,000 Indianapolis children (1in 5) will be sexually abused before they reach 18 years old. That is enough kids to fill Victory Field 3 times. Or The Children's Museum 9 times.

Sadly, we have seen several national headlines about child sexual abuse these past few months. The bad news: many of these cases were preventable. The good news: many future cases can be prevented. By understanding the risk and putting practical safeguards in place, we can drastically reduce the cases of child sexual abuse in central Indiana. MCCOY is a local facilitator for the Stewards of Children program and we want to tell you about it!

In response to this ongoing tragedy, MCCOY and Huntington Bank invite you to “Take Courageous Action: Empowering Women to Protect Children from Sexual Abuse.

Ladies, come to this event on Thursday March 8^th from 6-8pm to learn how you can protect all of the children in your life. Join other female community leaders at the New Day Meadery in Historic Fountain Square to learn about the Stewards of Children program and the 7 Steps that you can take to prevent sexual abuse.

Tickets are $20 and include wine tasting, gourmet cheese, and chocolate treats. Join us and take action! Click HERE to register or contact Alyssa.Newerth@mccoyouth.org for more info.

February 3 Legislative Update

This week marked the deadline for bills to crossover to the other chamber and business was concluded on Wednesday. Both houses are slated to reconvene on Tuesday and committee meeting agendas are already being posted for next week. Because of the contentious nature of the Right to Work debate, a great deal of time was devoted to debating or avoiding the debate of the issue. This resulted in less time for other bills to be heard, but still, a good number related to children made it through.

The legislature is now taking some time off due to the Super Bowl festivities. For advocates, this means some time to catch our collective breath and plan strategy for the remainder of the session. MCCOY is in the process of identifying which bills to hone in on. If you see any of interest or concern to you or your organization, please let us know and we will be more than happy to work with you to navigate the process. Below is an update of those bills that either passed or failed the first house. To view the complete information and text of the bills, click here.
　
Select House Education Bills

HB1134 Various education matters (Speedy, DeLaney)
This bill is related to public schools providing transportation at no cost to parents. It passed the House 92-2 and Senator Miller is the Senate sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

HB1136 Child care ministry advisory committee (Wesco)
Requires the division of family resources to establish a child care ministries advisory committee. This bill passed the House 91-1 and Senator Holdman is the Senate sponsor. MCCOY's position: support

HB1150 Family Friendly school designation (Sullivan, VanDenburgh)
Establishes the Indiana family friendly school designation program. This bill passed the House 98-0 and Senators Kruse, Simpson and Rogers are the Senate sponsors. MCCOY's position: support

HB1169 School discipline (Koch)
This bill passed the House 72-22 and Senator Kruse is the Senate sponsor. MCCOY has some serious concerns about the nature of this bill. While the bill's author, Rep. Koch, has explained that the purpose is to give schools disciplinary options for cyberbullying and cheating that occurs during off-school hours and off of school property, the language is not specific and leaves a school's discretion wide open in terms of what they can suspend or expel a studnet for. Given our already high rates of suspensions and expulsions in this state, and the disproportionate rates of minorities involved in those cases, MCCOY feels that the language should be tweaked to reflect the more specific intent of the bill. MCCOY's position: oppose as written

HB1189 Multiple ADM counts (Thompson)
Provides that ADM counts occur twice during the school year. This bill passed the House 82-14 and Senators Charbonneau and Rogers are the Senate sponsors. MCCOY's position: monitor

HB1219 Parental initiatives for school reorganization (Rhoads, Behning)
This bill died on the House floor - it did not make it through 2nd reading.

HB1324 School accountability and turnaround academies (Behning)
This bill died on the House floor - it did not make it through 2nd reading.

HB1326 Various education matters (Rhodes, Behning)
This bill passed the House 79-17 and Senator Yoder is the Senate sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

Select House Child Welfare & Safety Bills

HB1007 Drug testing of public assistance recipients (McMillin)
This bill was brought back for 2nd reading after being withdrawn. It was amended to be a pilot program for 3 counties and does include language for random drug testing for legislators. It passed the House 73-23 and Senators Head and Banks are the Senate sponsors. MCCOY has serious concerns about the implications for children in this bill and will be working with our partners to express those concerns. MCCOY's position: oppose

HB1204 Sex offender registry (Dermody)
This bill passed the House 93-0 and Senators Steele and Arnold are the Senate sponsors. MCCOY's position: monitor

HB1365 Dual juvenile and criminal jurisdiction (McNamara, Steuerwald, Dermody)
This bill passed the House 93-0 and Senators Steele and Arnold are the Senate sponsors. MCCOY's position: support
　
Select Senate Education, Early Childhood & Child Care Bills

SB83 Cursive writing in school curriculum (Leising)
This bill passed the Senate 45-5 and Representative Rhoads is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

SB89 Teaching of the origin of life (Kruse, Holdman)
This bill was amended to state that schools may teach various religious theories of the creation of life, not just the Judeo-Christian view. This bill passed the Senate 28-22 and Representative Thompson is the House sponsor. MCCOY position: monitor

SB179 Virtual instruction course requirement (Banks, Kruse)
This bill was amended to require the Department of Education to conduct an audit of a school's capability and capacity to offer on-line instruction. This bill passed the Senate 38-12 and Representative Heuer is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: support

SB198 Choice scholarship eligibility (Eckerty, Walker)
This bill was reassigned to Appropriations and did not move on to 2nd reading.

SB236 Various education matters (Delph, Kruse, Schneider)
This bill failed the Senate for lack of a constitutional majority (25-25).

SB248 Balanced school calendar (Leising)
This bill was amended to create an interim study committee to examine the use of balanced school calendars and procedures for the implementation or discontinuance of the use of balanced school calendars. This bill passed the Senate 36-13 and Representative Rhoads is the House sponsor. MCCOY position: support

SB265 School report card (Head)
This bill passed the Senate 50-0 and Representative Koch is the House sponsor. MCCOY will be looking into this bill further to determine it's implications for schools and students. MCCOY's position: monitor

SB267 Education concerning child abuse (Rogers)
This bill passed the Senate 50-0 and Representative Behning is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: support

SB268 Advisory committee on early education (Rogers)
This bill passed the Senate 42-8 and representative Behning is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: support

SB283 Nonpublic alternative high schools; residential facilities (Kruse)
This bill was slightly amended to require the Department of Education to waive accreditation standards for an accredited nonpublic alternative high school that contracts with a school corporation to provide alternative education services for students who have (1) dropped out of high school; (2) been expelled; or (3) were not successful in the school corporation. This bill passed the Senate 48-2 and Representative Thompson is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

SB296 Certified scholarship program eligibility (Leising)
This bill passed the Senate 34-16 and Representative Behning is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

SB312 School policies on gang activities (Hershman)
This bill passed the Senate 50-0 and Represenative Timothy Brown is the House sponsor. While MCCOY supports the provisions of the bill pertaining to prevention, education and awareness for schools, there is some concern about the implications of the loose definition of "criminal gang" and "criminal gang activity" in Indiana's criminal code and how this bill could widen the net for more youth, particularly minority youth, to be inappropriately labeled as gang members. The bill also includes language about reporting suspected gang members that is arbitrary and subjective. MCCOY's position: support with amendments

SB331 Choice scholarship eligibility (Yoder)
This bill died in committee.

Select Senate Child Welfare & Safety Bills

SB4 Human Trafficking (Head, Banks, Walker)
This bill was signed into law by Govenor Mitch Daniels on January 30th.

SB190 Termination of parent-child relationship (Charbonneau)
This bill passed the Senate 44-6 and Representative Clere is the House sponsor. MCCOY's position: monitor

SB286 Department of child services (C. Lawson)
This bill passed the Senate 50-0 and Representative McNamara is the House sponsor.

SB287 Department of child services (C. Lawson)
This bill passed the Senate 48-0 and has been referred to the House Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs. Representative McNamara is the House sponsor.